19 and 5

I've been thinking a lot about numbers recently. So we're going to talk about two numbers tonight, two very important numbers for me.

First is the number 19. The combination of 1 and 9 are very special to me, for some obvious reasons. First, my birthday is September 19th (919). Those of you who know your history with me will thus see where my old (packet919) and current (ousooner919) e-mail addresses come from. Also, my mom's birthday is September 1st (9-1) and my dad's is January 9th (1-9). My sister's is May 31st. This might seem like it's out of the pattern, but add up the digits of that date (5+3+1), and you get 9. I turned 18 on September 19th, 1991 (9-19-1991). I know, it's not as dramatic as if I had turned 19 on that date, but I still feel that reaching majority on that date is significant.

19 has a beautiful symmetry to it. First, it's a prime number, and prime numbers are always very cool, as well as extremely useful and unusual in mathematics. (For example, asymmetric cryptography schemes make great use of prime numbers.) It is the first number you reach that is a centered triangular number, a centered hexagonal number, and an octahedral number. In Roman numerals, 19 is XIX, and 1900 is MCM, both of which add a cool parallel to my own birthdate number, 919. It's not always a good thing: my favorite baseball team, the Chicago White Sox, is infamous for having thrown the World Series in 1919. For some reason, I seem to have a knack for looking at the clock right at what Heidi and I call "my time": 9:19, either am or pm. Unconsciously I am able to look at the clock at just the right time, about 3-4 times a week.

As you can see, my relationship with 19 seems to be built directly into my being. I have yet to find a special, meaningful significance aside from many interesting coincidences, but perhaps some day I will find why 19 seems to run through my life repeatedly.

In any case, its prevalence has made it my lucky number. I always choose 19 first, and if it is not available, I go for 9 or 91 or 919.


The second number is 5. It became very important for me just last night, when Heidi and I decided we are now on the Five-Year Plan.

The Five-Year Plan, that is, to move back to Oklahoma.

We've decided that we're going to make this our primary goal, that five years from right now, we will be either back in Oklahoma or preparing to move to Oklahoma. We talked about it a bit last night and we figured it this way: Katie will be 17 then, and about to enter her senior year. By that point, with the way things are going, she'll be pretty much over her ol' Dad and probably won't take it too hard then if we move. Connor will have just turned 13 and will be fully adjusted and acclimated to everything, and will be quite the independent young man then. He'll be able to come out to Oklahoma to visit us, and in any case, Colorado law says that at 14 he is allowed to make his own choice regarding where he would like to live. Should he decide to move in with us and live with us, so much the better. Even if he does not, I expect that by that time he'll be in good shape, considering the kind of boy he is, to handle the situation very well. Donovan will just be Donovan. We could move anywhere, every year, and it just doesn't seem to phase him much. And most importantly, Owen will be 5 and just ready to enter kindergarten, so that will be a great time for him, also. We'll move to the place where he will be easily established for his entire school career. By then I'll have been in IT nearly 15 years, and able to go just about anywhere and do just about anything. I would prefer to have the business either fully up and running with Dad, or ready to roll as soon as we get there. And speaking of my family, we would like for at least one of our children to be able to grow up with my family, seeing as how they have had to miss out on just about everything with Katie and Connor, since we're so far away. I would like one of my children to have my family close, just like I did when I was growing up. I would like to raise one of my children the way I was raised, start to finish. Heidi agrees, and she has said she is willing to do this. (Have I ever told you all how wonderful my wife is?)

I'm not without apprehension in planning this; there are many things that could go wrong, many things that could happen between now and then, and after, but this is our goal. We have set this and we're going to plan for it and do what we can to make it happen. I worry most about what might happen with Connor, but I think that as long as we do things right over the next five years, he'll be ready. Like I said, he will be able to choose where he wants to live at 14, so who knows? He may decide he'd rather come live with me instead of his mom.

We will make our plans, do our best, and leave the rest to God.

Thanks for reading along.